The two employees of the Central Northern Regional Electricity Distributor (Cenored) who were arrested on Tuesday on allegations of fraud and forgery appeared in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court Wednesday morning.
The accused are Rusten Kahuure, 43, and 50-year-old Dominikus Ndumba.
Kahuure works as a procurement officer for the company, while Ndumba is a debtors clerk.
Both appeared before Otjiwarongo Magistrate, Tuandamuje Mukumbo, who explained their legal rights to apply for a lawyer through the Ministry of Justice’s Legal Aid Directorate; acquire the services of a private lawyer or defend themselves in court.
Kahuure indicated that he would engage a private lawyer, while Ndumba opted for self defence.
Public prosecutor Joas Neemwatja, who represented State in the matter, did not oppose any bail application as long as it was in the amount of N.dollars 10 000.
Both accused said the proposed N.dollars 10 000 was unaffordable for them, and asked for a reduction.
Magistrate Mukumbo then granted them
bail of N.dollars 5 000 each.
Their case was postponed to 05 September 2024 to allow for further police investigations.
The court was informed that Kahuure and Ndumba allegedly played a major role in a fraud syndicate at Cenored in between 2021 and 2022, where several company managers were implicated, and were suspended.
Some of the managers have so far returned to work, while the 36-year-old Mateus Fungo, suspected to be the key figure in the fraud, resigned from the company in 2023.
Fungo also appeared before the court on Wednesday, alongside Kahuure and Ndumba.
He told the court that his private lawyer based in Windhoek will attend court on 05 September this year during their next court appearance.
Fungo was employed as a systems administrator and allegedly played a key role in defrauding Cenored of about N.dollars 12 million between September 2021 and December 2022.
He resigned in January 2023 and now runs his own companies in the Kavango East, Zambezi and Otjozondjupa regions.
Fungo is also out o
n N.dollars 5 000 bail.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency